Attaching and detaching ships  boats



unirEn srATEs PATENT OFFICE.

' ROBERT S. STUBBS, OF CLAREMOF, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

ATTACHING AND DETACI-IING SHIPS BOATS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 30,698, dated November 20, 1860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT S. STUBBS, of

Claremont, in the county of Sullivan andv State of New I-Iampshire, have invented and made a certain new and useful Improvement in Lowering, Attaching or Detaching Boats; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the saine, reference being had to the annexed drawing, making part of this specification, wherein- Figure l, is a side elevation of my said means for lowering boats, the side Vof the vessel and boat being represented as broken open to show the parts. Fig. 2, is a plan of the capstan barrel with the frame removed to show the construction.

Similar marks of reference denote the same parts.

The nature of my said invention consists of a capstan barrel arranged in such a man ner that a boat can be wound up gradually by a crank and worm pinion applied to said barrel, or in case of a sea lifting the boat the slack rope or chain can be instantly drawn up which very much facilitates the hoisting of the boat; and in lowering said boat the capstan barrel is disconnected from the worm pinion in such a manner that the boat can run down, and upon arriving in the water the ropes or chains are disconnected from the boat simultaneously at the respective ends by a peculiar latch.

In the drawing, A, A, are the davits 0r catheads to which the boat is suspended by ropes or chains G (lr, that pass through the vessels side and are connected at their ends to the windlass barrel c, that is sustained in a suitable frame or support B.

I), is a fly wheel and crank by which to revolve the worm pinion I-I that acts on the wheel H, at the head of the capstan barrel, and the ropes G, G, leading to opposite sides of the capstan enables the attendant to draw iu or let `out the ropes G, G, and either raise or lower the boat. On the upper part of the capstan barrel is a grooved wheel l0, taking the endless rope or chain E that passes around through the block 1l. on this wheel l0, taking the ratchet G, attached to the wheel H. If now the man at the windlass wheel D, winding up a boat, sees the ropes or chains G, Gr slack in consequence of a wave lifting the boat, he seizes the rope E, and by it revolves the capstan 7 is a pawlbarrel C, taking up the slack, the pawl 7 running over the ratchet wheel 6 allows the wheel H to stand still.

Then it is desired to lower the boat with out the slow process of winding it down by the worm pinion H, I disconnect said pinion so that the barrel is free to rotate by the weight of the boat and hence said boa-t will run down. To effect this object I make use of a lever g by which said pinion H is thrown into or out of gear, and said lever is retained by a latch as shown, and a friction brake F applie'd to the wheel 10, will regulate the descent. lVhen the boa-t strikes the water orat the moment desired, either before or after striking the water, the party in charge of the boat can disconnect both ends simultaneously from the ropes Gr, by draw ing on the lever 2, as represented in Fig. l, where the boat- I, is shown broken open to represent the mechanism contained therein.

On the end of each rope or chain G, is a conical or wedge shaped bolt or catch M, represented in larger size in the detached view Fig. 3. A case J is provided beneath the cross piece or thwart K, and in this case is a latch 4t, which springs over the shoulder on the bolt M, as inserted into said case through a suitable opening in K, this latch can be disconnected from the bolt M by the spring lever 3, that is linked to the lever Q. There is to be a case J, and the contained latch and lever near each end to sustain the weight of the boat and its contents, and by connecting the levers 3, 3, to each other by the rod L, the two ends of the boat can be reliably and instantly disconnected from the ropes or chains G, by drawing said lever 2, into the position indicated by dotted lines at 5, Fig. 1.

The ends of the latches 4:, 4, might be beveled in such a manner that the weight would tend to keep the parts together so that the disconnection could be automatic by the springs to the levers 3, 3, when the boat floated on the water. The latches (4t) at the respective ends of the boat may be connected to each other by different mechanism than that shown for the purpose of simultaneous disconnection from the bolts M.

I do not claim any of the separate parts, but what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent isl. The employment of a capstan barrel to which the endless rope or chain E is applied to take up the slack in raising a boat lever 3, and rod L for disconnecting said and which barrel is operated as by a worm latches and with the lowering apparatus for pinion H, and wheel H', between which and the purposes and as set forth.

the capstan the pawl 7 and wheel 6, are

5 itted, the whole acting in connectionwith the brake F to raise or lower the boat as Specified.

2. The latches 4, in the inverted position shown to take the bolt heads M, M, in the 1o manner specified, when combined with the In witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature this tenth day of September 1860. l5

ROBERT S. STUBBS. 

